Have you ever seen something in a store that just grabbed you? If you’re reading this blog you probably have. Last week, on New Year’s Day to be exact, I saw this scrumptious vintage chandelier in a shop near our house in Connecticut, that was/is well priced and really pretty. Whenever I see pieces like this, they’re easy to resist because they’re usually a big investment piece – priced in the thousands and not on my list of needs right now.
To be clear, I’ve been renovating my house out in the woods for some time now – bit by bit. Most recently we took down an ill thought out wall that the previous owner had installed between the kitchen and the TV room (that was never in the original plans and served to chop up the rooms on the first floor into little dark bits)…and changed the finishes in the kitchen, added a big island, and put up a few cabinets. As a result the dining area is back to it’s original (large) area, which allowed me to put the leaves in the dining room table, and buy some new dining chairs. The chandelier I had there was still fine, a bit small, but fine considering it is also a pass through room where a big distraction hanging in the middle of the room isn’t really necessary.
So anyway, I saw this tulip shaped chandelier about a week ago, it was priced well, but right after Christmas and with all sorts of bills coming due I didn’t want to spend the money. So I left it – and then spent a week torturing myself thinking about it. The train of thought went something like this: “Should I get it? I always want this and that! Why do I always want things? I have the money but I just spent a lot on this and that… maybe there’s another one out there I’d like better…. stop thinking about it!” over and over.
So on Saturday I was back in the neighborhood of the store and went in, really hoping someone had bought the chandelier, taken it off with them, and put me out of my misery. But there it was, chained to it’s lovely spot in the dealer’s alcove. So I asked the sales person if it worked – she of course made a phone call and came back with a vague answer: “Well you should never buy a lighting fixture from an antique store without planning to rewire it.“ Ahh OK, that’s good advise but only served to alarm me. I left and went home and started on the internal dialogue I mentioned above again. By Sunday I’d had enough already. I have a long history of not buying/getting things I want, and trying to make myself happy with substitutes which never seems to work. I went down and took the thing on approval.
First I tried the lights with a swag kit – they seemed to work fine, however at some point someone had put the wrong sized candle fixture covers on, making it difficult to screw the bulb down to the contact in the socket. I think the dealer had incorrectly thought this was a wiring issue. I temporarily fixed that (cut it down so it would make contact) and installed it over the dining room table. But of course now I’m convinced that it will burn the house down, even though the wiring looks fine – the plastic covering on the wires is a little dry and there is no ground, but I have it up until my electrician can come over and check it over. Anyway, I think it looks lovely.
